Reframing Autism Response to Minister Butler’s National Press Club Address

Yesterday, Minister Mark Butler delivered a sweeping announcement at the National Press Club that will reshape the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for hundreds of thousands of Australians. As an Autistic-led organisation dedicated to genuine acceptance, inclusion and active citizenship for Autistic people, Reframing Autism responds with deep concern — and a clear call to action. 

The NDIS is not a budget line. It is a human rights commitment. 

The scheme exists because Australia recognised that disabled people deserve supports to live full, self-determined lives. That founding principle must not be traded away in the name of fiscal containment. These announced reforms — replacing diagnosis-based access with functional capacity assessments, removing an estimated 160,000 participants, and cutting growth to 2% annually — will disproportionately harm Autistic people.  

We are especially alarmed by: 

• Functional capacity assessments that misread Autistic experience. Functional capacity assessments, as currently conceived, are not designed to account for Autistic masking, the variable and context-dependent nature of Autistic support needs, or the profound gap between how an Autistic person presents on a given day and what they need to flourish across a lifetime. A framework built on external observation alone will fail our community — not occasionally, but systematically.  

• The harm of repeated reassessment. Anxiety, uncertainty, and the constant threat of losing support are not abstract concerns for our community — they are daily realities with measurable mental health consequences. Reassessment processes must never become instruments of attrition. 

• Cuts to social and community participation. For Autistic people, community connection is not a luxury — it is foundational to wellbeing, identity, and belonging. Reducing this funding category strikes at the very heart of what inclusion means. 

• The impact on Autistic children and young people. Early support is not optional. The evidence is unambiguous: timely, appropriate intervention changes life trajectories. Any reform that restricts early access is a false economy with lifelong consequences. 

• The erasure of Autistic voices from the design process and misalignment with the National Autism Strategy. To date, we have seen no evidence that Autistic people — particularly those with the highest support needs — have been meaningfully involved in designing these reforms. That is not co-design. That is consultation in name only. Despite the depth of community engagement under the National Autism Strategy, the ongoing lack of accountability through shared decision‑making and participatory design remains a serious concern — one that consistently excludes those most directly affected. 

• Mandatory provider registration means less choice and control. Providers come into our homes and support us in sensitive situations – we need to be able to choose the individuals to be assured of safety and dignity. Autistic and disabled people must not be returned to impersonal, large‑provider service models, which risk undoing progress made toward relational, community‑based supports that have proven to be the strongest scaffold. 

What we are calling for: 

Reframing Autism calls on Minister Butler and the Australian Government to: 

• Pause and co-design.  No changes to eligibility or assessment frameworks should proceed without genuine, structured co-design with Autistic people and Autistic-led organisations — including those who are non-speaking, have high support needs, or have been historically excluded from policy conversations. 
• Protect Autistic-specific access pathways.  Any functional capacity framework must be built with an explicit understanding of Autistic masking, sensory needs, and the episodic nature of some Autistic support requirements. It must not penalise people for appearing capable. 
• Consider overall costs rather than only NDIS costs.  Not funding support does not mean that support needs go away. Cuts to NDIS funding will push costs into health, mental health, and crisis supports. Savings on early intervention and supports that are protective of wellbeing, will be dwarfed by the cost blowouts in other areas.
• Preserve social and community participation supports.  Active citizenship — which we believe should be available to every Autistic person — is impossible without the supports that enable Autistic people to participate in community life in ways that are accessible and authentic. 
• Balance safeguards with participant flexibility. Registration requirements must scale with the size of the provider. The goal should be improving safeguards and maintaining consistent practice standards, not pushing small providers out of the market or removing the ability for disabled people to choose their own providers. 
• Commit to transparency and ongoing accountability.  Publish clear data on the impact of these reforms on Autistic participants, disaggregated by age, gender, and support needs. Never assume less people reliant on support in one sector is a job well done, unless it can be verified that people are supported elsewhere. The community deserves to know who is being helped — and who is being left behind. 

To our community: 

We see you. We know that this announcement will have caused fear, grief, and anger — and those responses are valid. Reframing Autism will continue to stand alongside you, to amplify your voices, and to hold decision-makers to account. The story of the NDIS is not yet written. Autistic people must be involved in authoring the next chapter — not as its casualties. We are calling on the Government to demonstrate that it understands the difference between sustainability and abandonment. 

Nothing about us, without us. 

Media enquiries: info@reframingautism.org.au  

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